ISOJ 2007

1. International Symposium on Online Journalism
Transformation of the newspaper into
a multimedia organization

2. Why merge?
• Changes in the business model require a ground-up re-
thinking of the entire news organization, not just the
creation of a parallel online organization
• Online should be a full partner in driving news decisions not
do post-production on someone else’s content
• Journalists of all stripes are eager to get involved

3. Making it happen
• Clear leadership from the top
• Put Web journalists in positions of authority
• Training, training, training
• Delegate authority gradually as knowledge builds
• Address cultural issues head on
• Look for opportunities to transform print, not just the Web
• Try different organizational models
“The goal in combining the two newsrooms is to create a single 24-hour
news organization that will inform and engage readers on multiple
platforms,” said Paulson. “That means going beyond arm’s-length
collaboration. Starting today our goal is to begin conceiving and
planning our coverage as one unit, thinking more strategically about the
deployment of our newsgathering resources in a world in which news has
become an on-demand commodity.” -- Ken Paulson

4. Making it happen
• Clear leadership from the top
• Put Web journalists in positions of authority
• Training, training, training
• Delegate authority gradually as knowledge builds
• Address cultural issues head on
• Look for opportunities to transform print, not just the Web
• Try different organizational models
Reporter
Reporter
Reporter
Reporter
Reporter
Reporter
Reporter
Blogger
Editor Editor
Reporter
Reporter
Reporter
Reporter
Editor

5. Obstacles
• Web employees find it harder than print
• Ties to the business side strained
• Innovation can suffer
• Struggle to align values

6. Benefits
• Force multiplier
“I’ll be a lot happier when this
becomes the norm, but editors and
reporters here really are starting to
adapt to the news cycle they now face…
and people seem to understand when it’s
better to write a whole story and when
it’s better to just send up some info
to put together for them.”

7. Benefits
• Force multiplier
• Buy in
• Fresh ideas
• Better journalism
• Better alignment of effort

11. International Symposium on Online Journalism
Transformation of the newspaper into
a multimedia organization